36/Plumbing Engineer December 2021
manage the plumbers, assist in the overall designs of the projects, and do final quality control review before the projects go out the door. I take it upon myself to mentor my fellow employees so they can excel at what they do. I have a "teach a man to fish" ethic that I instill in those around me. Beyond engineering, it is important to build relation- ships with your co-workers and clients. I freely share my knowledge with anyone who needs help. Developing relationships opens you up to better communication as well as collaboration. Working with friends takes some of the seriousness out of projects and makes doing them a little more fun. PE: What are your professional specializations? JF: I specialize in the design and installation of plumbing systems within hospitals, the most important of which is Legionella control. I serve on the water man- agement committees of several hospitals and am ASSE 12080-certified ( ASSE/IAPMO/ANSI 12080. Professional Qualifications Standard for Legionella Water Safety and Management Personnel ). I take pride in being able to help our hospital clients with Legionella control and mitigation. Helping them address, mitigate and prevent the spread of Legionella and knowing that what I do could save lives is very gratifying. PE: Are there professional organizations that have shaped your experience in the plumbing industry? JF: I belong to several professional organizations: ASPE, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the American Society of Sanitary Engineering (ASSE). All are important avenues to stay current with codes, standards and good engineering practices. ASPE is by far the society that has helped me get to where I am today. It offered me the training and the tools that I, as a plumbing engineer, need to be successful. ASPE also allowed me to develop friendships within my profession that have lasted me a lifetime. To be an engineer, you need to stay current with what's going on with the codes and read the code books. When new codes come out, you must take the time to learn them and find out what's different. I was on the committee that rewrote the Chicago plumbing code in 2000. It hadn't been rewritten since the '60s, although there were minor revisions in the 1980s. We literally rewrote the entire Chicago code in a year. It was a committee of engineers, contractors and some special interest groups. We took three model codes and compared them to the Chicago code and, as a committee, decided what was best for our plumbing community. PE: What are your top three career highlights? JF: Selecting three highlights in a 36-year career is a bit difficult but what stands out are some of the projects I had the pleasure of working on: I designed the new Comiskey Park and the United Center in a single summer; the new children's bed tower at Lutheran General Hospital; and the conversion of the shuttered Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park, Ill., into an alternate care facility for COVID-19 patients within three weeks. PE: What professional challenges have you faced dur- ing the COVID-19 pandemic? JF: Working on the Westlake Hospital alternate care facility was one of the most challenging projects of my career. The response team was able to take a shuttered hospital and convert it into a facility ready to take in up to 350 COVID-19 patients within three weeks. The project was a collaboration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Grumman Butkus Associates' mechanical engineers, Dickerson Engineering (electrical), architects,
Joe Ficek was named a Fellow of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers in 2014. Presenting the award were Cyril Unger, CPD, FASPE, a member of the ASPE Fellows Committee (left) and William F. Hughes Jr., CPD, LEED AP, FASPE, president of the ASPE board of directors at the time (right). Photo credit: Theresa Allen Card
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